Dear [NAME],
Please, find below the latest GMS CDC Newsletter!
As a reminder, the newsletter – which is directly linked to the GMS CDC website (www.gms-cdc.org) – tries to compile in brief manners all news RCU collects and receives relating to communicable diseases in the Greater Mekong Subregion: press clips, calendar of CDC-related events in the region, new research finding reports, new technical resources available, etc.
Naturally, in order to make this newsletter increasingly interesting to all, we invite you to also share with RCU whatever you may have available and feel of interest to the CDC professionals’ network. To that effect, please send to webmaster@gms-cdc.org. Credit will always be given to the source.
Kind regards,
The RCU team
Main Contents
Calendar of CDC-related Events in the GMS General Updates Press Clips Useful Links
Calendar of CDC-related Events in the GMS 2012 Harvard International Conference on Digital Disease Detection Starts Thursday, 16 February 2012 Back to top
General Updates Study suggests older adults may have little defense against swine H3N2 viruses Jan 27, 2012 (CIDRAP News) – Canadian researchers have reported a study in which both young children and middle-aged adults had little evidence of immune protection against swine-origin influenza H3N2 viruses like those that have been reported recently in a dozen US children. Bird flu deaths reported in Vietnam, Cambodia According to authorities in Vietnam and Cambodia, a Vietnamese duck farmer and a two-year-old Cambodian child died as a result of bird flu this month. Read more... Bird Flu Rears Its Ugly Head With Multiple Deaths in China
China is reporting its second bird flu death in one month. A 39-year-old man was the second casualty from the deadly H5N1 strain in less than one month. The first victim, also 39-years-old and a bus driver died on December 31st. H5N1 Influenza – Graphic Summary Through 2011
As of December 2011, most cases of human infection by H5N1 Influenza virus were reported in Cambodia, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. In the following graph [1], note that successive peaks were reported by Vietnam and Indonesia, followed by increasing activity in Egypt during recent years. Three countries report H5N1 cases, deaths
Jan 19, 2012 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) today confirmed three new H5N1 avian influenza cases from Indonesia and Egypt, one of them fatal, a day after Vietnam's health ministry announced a death from the disease, its first in nearly 2 years. Read more... Vietnam reports H5N1 outbreak in household chickens H5N1 avian flu killed 10 chickens in a backyard flock in Vietnam's southern Hau Giang province and led to the culling of 440 more, according to a Voice of Vietnam (VOV) story today. Study: Steroids did not improve survival in severely ill H1N1 patients
Spanish researchers report that corticosteroid treatment did not improve survival in severely ill patients during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, according to a report yesterday in the Journal of Infection. Hong Kong tests find H5 in two wild birds Preliminary tests on two black-headed gulls found dead in Hong Kong were positive the an H5 avian influenza virus, according to a statement today from the region's Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD). CDC reports two more novel flu infections Dec 23, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed two more novel flu infections, one an H3N2 variant that has been identified in 11 other patients this year and one an H1N1 variant that has never been reported in humans before. Read more... Return of bird flu: Hong Kong slaughters 17,000 chickens after H5N1 virus is discovered at city market
Hong Kong health authorities have slaughtered more than 17,000 chickens after three birds were found to have died from the H5N1 bird flu strain in the past week. Read more... WHO underscores vigilance for novel flu viruses
The World Health Organization (WHO) in a statement yesterday reminded countries to monitor for and report novel influenza viruses like the reassortant swine-origin H3N2 found in 11 US residents in recent months. Hong Kong raises alert level after H5N1 confirmed in poultry
Hong Kong has changed its avian flu response level from "alert" to "serious" after three birds tested positive for H5N1 avian flu, including a dead chicken from a marketplace, an Agence France-Press (AFP) story said today. WHO warns of lab-produced bird flu virus
GENEVA, Dec. 30 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on Friday, warning that studies undertaken by several institutions which generate mutations of the H5N1 influenza virus could pose possible risks to public health. Report: Chinese man likely infected with bird flu (CNN) -- A 39-year-old man in a southern Chinese hospital is suffering from what appears to be a contagious strain of avian flu, state media reported Friday. Study suggests statins reduce deaths in severe flu infections
Dec 15, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – The use of statins—widely used lipid-control drugs—was associated with a 41% lower death rate in patients who were hospitalized with influenza, according to a surveillance study from the 2007-08 flu season that spanned 10 states. Read more... Knowledge of Avian Influenza (H5N1) among Poultry Workers, Hong Kong, China Abstract. In 2009, a cross-sectional survey of 360 poultry workers in Hong Kong, China, showed that workers had inadequate levels of avian influenza (H5N1) risk knowledge, preventive behavior, and outbreak preparedness. Changing Perception of Avian Influenza Risk, Hong Kong, 2006–2010
To determine whether the decline in the Hong Kong live poultry supply was paralleled by declines in avian influenza risk perceptions and protective hygiene behavior, we conducted a telephone survey.
A Two-Year Surveillance of 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) in Guangzhou, China: From Pandemic to Seasonal Influenza? Abstract. In this two-years surveillance of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) (pH1N1) in Guangzhou, China, we reported here that the scale and duration of pH1N1 outbreaks, Chinese Taipei: H5N2 avian influenza detected on farm Surveillance has uncovered low-pathogenic H5N2 avian flu on a farm near Hsinchu City, Taiwan, according to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on 17 November 2011. China: FAO official warns of elevated risk of H5N1 avian influenza
H5N1 avian flu is widespread in China's poultry markets, especially in the south, according to a United Nations (UN) official. Guo Fusheng, technical adviser in animal health for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said the country is facing an increased risk of the virus, in both poultry and people on 17 November 2011. Novartis says cell-based flu vaccine facility ready to produce Dec 13, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – Novartis's new cell-culture based influenza vaccine factory in North Carolina has begun making a prepandemic H5N1 flu vaccine and is ready to start producing vaccines for a real pandemic when needed, the company and federal health officials announced yesterday. Read more... Hong Kong residents, poultry workers see low avian flu risk Hong Kong poultry workers and consumers see the risk of avian flu as being fairly low, even though Hong Kong consumers are less likely to buy poultry from live markets, according to two surveys published in the current issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID). New Variants and Age Shift to High Fatality Groups Contribute to Severe Successive Waves in the 2009 Influenza Pandemic in Taiwan Abstract. Past influenza pandemics have been characterized by the signature feature of multiple waves. However, the reasons for multiple waves in a pandemic are not understood. Swine influenza surveillance in East and Southeast Asia: a systematic review
Abstract. East and Southeast Asia are important pig- and poultry-producing areas, where the majority of production takes place on small-scale farms with low biosecurity levels. Flu activity stuck in low gear in most countries
Dec 2, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – Local or regional influenza outbreaks in a handful of countries were the only exceptions to a global pattern of low flu activity in recent weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its biweekly flu update today. Read more... New details emerge in novel H3N2 reports Nov 29, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – New details about the three most recent human infections with a novel swine-origin influenza virus have emerged over the past few days, along with a preliminary report of similar viruses in a few pigs. Read more... 11,000 chickens culled after H5N1 outbreak in Bangladesh Some 11,000 chickens and 43,000 eggs were destroyed after an outbreak of H5N1 avian flu was confirmed on a Bangladeshi farm, according to a report today from the Dhaka-based Daily Star.
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Press Clips First Pasteur Institute in Laos opens
VIENTIANE: The first Institute Pasteur in Laos was opened in Vientiane Capital on Monday with the aim of reducing the risks of pandemic outbreaks of infectious and parasitic diseases in Southeast Asia, Lao News Agency (KPL) reported. A local outbreak of dengue caused by an imported case in Dongguan China
Dengue, a mosquito-borne febrile viral disease, is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world. Ministry steps up anti-dengue measures
THE Health Ministry will convene weekly dengue task force meetings in all districts to find ways to control the outbreak of the disease. Read more... WHO says 40% of population at risk for dengue fever
Jan 24, 2012 (CIDRAP News) – The World Health Organization (WHO) sounded a new warning today about the spread of dengue fever, saying cases have increased sharply since 2008 and more than 40% of the world's population is at risk for infection. Feature: ASEAN unites in battle against dengue
JAKARTA — The first ASEAN Dengue Day was observed on June 15 at Jakarta`s National Museum, where a call was made to intensify regional cooperation to tackle the disease. Read more... Review renews questions about oseltamivir benefits
Jan 19, 2012 (CIDRAP News) – A lengthy new analysis of unpublished clinical trial data is renewing questions about the effectiveness of the influenza drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu), saying that although the drug shortens flu symptoms by about a day, there is no evidence that it reduces hospital admissions. Read more... DoD awards $15 million contract for Ebola, Marburg vaccine candidate
The Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded a contract worth about $15 million to Paragon Bioservices, Inc., of Baltimore, to develop a vaccine against filoviruses, which include Ebola and Marburg, the company said in a release yesterday. Cheaper malaria drug on the horizon, say German researchers; 200 million malaria sufferers worldwide
German researchers announced Tuesday they had discovered a process to make the most effective anti-malaria drug cheaper and easier to produce in large life-saving quantities. Read more... For Intrigue, Malaria Drug Gets the Prize
Artemisinin’s discovery is being talked about as a candidate for a Nobel Prizein Medicine. Millions of American taxpayer dollars are spent on it for Africa every year. Fake malaria drugs could 'put millions at risk'
Some of the ingredients in the tablets could cause potentially serious side effects, the study found, especially if they were mixed with other drugs a patient might be taking, like anti-retrovirals to treat HIV. Protect your family from an outbreak
The Philippines experiences outbreaks of flood-borne diseases each year as typhoons regularly hit the country. Read more... Dengue: Still a year-round issue
MANILA, Philippines — While the latest Department of Health issue was the number of firecracker casualties from the New Year celebrations, Dr. Rosario Z. Capeding, who heads the Dengue Research program at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) says that parents should not let their guard down against the constant threat of dengue in the country. Public warned of dengue outbreak
The local health authority has warned the public to remain vigilant over a possible outbreak of the deadly dengue fever. Outbreaks of the disease usually occur during particularly heavy rainy seasons. Read more... Salmonella outbreak tied to chicken liver declared over after 190 cases
An outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg infections tied to chicken liver products appears to be over after reaching 190 cases in six states, most of them on the East Coast, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday. ECDC urges caution with TDR-TB label
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said today that the term "TDR-TB" (total or totally drug-resistant tuberculosis) is inexact and should be avoided or defined globally. Fatal Minnesota infection shows pathogenic ameba has moved north
A fatal case of meningoencephalitis in a Minnesota child in 2010 shows that a type of ameba historically confined to the southern United States can now be found much farther north, according to a report in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Study: H3N2 dominance may lead to more pneumococcal pneumonia
In assessing data from 11 flu seasons, researchers found that the association between invasive pneumococcal pneumonia and influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity varied but was stronger in seasons when the H3N2 flu strain dominated. GM mosquitoes - threat or friend?
Some civil society groups are calling for an immediate halt to any field trials of GM insects and a reassessment of the risks posed by the technology - claim campaigners, while the company involved issues its own rebuttal. Deaths from dengue rise
The number of people hospitalised with dengue during 2011 rose 25 per cent from the year before and the number of deaths almost doubled, health officials said yesterday. Read more... Ninh Thuan Province declares end of hand-foot-mouth epidemic
The central province of Ninh Thuan has officially announced an end of the hand-foot-mouth epidemic in the entire province. Read more... Protecting an anti-malarial drug from developing resistance
It is a drug that has its roots in ancient Chinese medicine. In the fight against malaria, a disease that over 200 million people are estimated to have caught in 2010, some 655,000 of whom died of it, protecting the effectiveness of artemisinin-based drugs has become vitally important. Read more... Greater Mekong leaders agree to 10-year plan to boost growth
Leaders of the six nations that share the Mekong River agreed Tuesday on a new 10-year plan to boost growth, development and poverty reduction across the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said. Encephalitis temporally associated with live attenuated Japanese encephalitis vaccine: Four case reports
Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccination is the most effective measure for preventing JE disease. The live attenuated JE vaccine, which has shown good efficacy and safety, has been widely used in China. CDC urges vigilance against enterovirus
Taipei, Dec. 18 (CNA) The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advised the public Sunday to pay close attention to enterovirus outbreaks at home or during visits to Southeast Asia, mainland China or Hong Kong, although it is past the annual peak period for the disease. Read more... Disease Outbreak Sickens Over 80 Villagers, 47 Seriously 28 December 2011: Over 80 people have fallen ill after being contracted with a mysterious infectious disease in three villages in Falam Township, Chin State. Science names HIV study 2011 Breakthrough of Year
WASHINGTON, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The journal Science on Thursday chose the HPTN 052 clinical trial, an international HIV prevention trial as the 2011 Breakthrough of the Year. 25% children affected by JE die
New Delhi: Government on Thursday admitted that 25 percent of children affected by Japanese Encephalitis die while 40 percent of those who survive become mentally or physically handicapped, but maintained that effective steps were being taken to tackle the disease. China polio toll climbs to 20 Local health officials said that polio cases in China's Xinjiang region have risen to 20, including 2 deaths, Xinhua, China's state news agency, reported yesterday. Need To Improve The Funding To Eradicate Malaria from the World, Says WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that if more funding for fighting malaria is not introduced, then it would become almost impossible to achieve the target of eliminating malaria from the world by 2015. Read more... Community overcomes threat of dengue Syamsiah did not care much about preventing dengue fever until her daughter fell victim to the disease in 2007. Read more... Global malaria death toll falling
We all like reports of dramatic medical and scientific breakthroughs but the reality is that most developments are incremental. As a result, important issues can get overlooked. Read more... Saving Lives against Rabies Rabies is a serious disease that affects millions worldwide, but it is preventable. Dr S Mohd Salim Khan brings us some lessons learned at the 3rd Rabies in Asia Conference in Sri Lanka. Read more... Study: MMR vaccine reactions fairly common but not serious
The first dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine given at 12 months of age can cause reactions that are typically mild, but that dose and the second dose of the vaccine may raise the risk of emergency room visits, according to Ontario researchers. Study: Malaria raises risk of miscarriage in early pregnancy, but drugs can help A long-term study from Thailand, billed as the largest of its kind, shows that malaria significantly increases the risk of miscarriage in the first trimester of pregnancy but that treating the disease with drugs is fairly safe and reduces the risk. Map study finds vivax malaria has firm grip in Asia
(Reuters) - Progress is being made in the fight against the most common form of malaria in Africa, but a long-lasting type of the mosquito-borne parasitic disease has a tight grip on swathes of South Asia and parts of Latin America, scientists said Monday. Read more... Vietnam orders strict monitoring of slaughterhouses during Tet
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development has ordered strict monitoring of imports and slaughter of cattle and poultry, as every year when Tet approaches, various kinds of vegetables, fruits and contaminated meat products begin to enter Vietnam. Read more... Temporal trend and climate factors of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome epidemic in Shenyang City, China
Background. Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is an important infectious disease caused by different species of hantaviruses. As a rodent-borne disease with a seasonal distribution, external environmental factors including climate factors may play a significant role in its transmission. China (Anhui Province): Dirty needle suspected in outbreak of hepatitis
An outbreak of hepatitis C among 56 children is thought to have been caused by the use of unsterilized syringe needles at a private clinic in central China's Henan Province. Fake malaria drugs a growing problem: experts
WASHINGTON — Fake or poor quality malaria drugs are boosting resistance in parts of southeast Asia, a problem that is likely to worsen unless tighter regulations are adopted, US experts said Monday. Read more... Sex workers spread HIV over China-Vietnam border NANNING, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) - Like millions of other ordinary rural folk in China, the farmer never dreamed that he could marry a foreign woman.Neither did he know the risk. Read more... Back to top
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